Sony has handed "advanced" developers a pre-release version of Android 4 Ice Cream Sandwich for its Xperia Play games phone.

The phonemaker formerly known as Sony Ericsson said it was releasing the code ahead of final testing and bugfixing to allow games developers to test their apps with the new Google OS.

Coders were told specifically to look out for lag and to ensure the buttons and touchpad work properly in their games.

The beta code requires the handset it's applied to be unlocked, if it hasn't had its carrier tether removed already. Sony provides an unlocking service, but it comes it comes with various warranty penalties.

Sony also warned that "even though a lot of the basic functionality of this ICS beta ROM is working, you should only download and install the beta version if you are an advanced developer".

If you are - or you're just pretending to be - you can download the ICS beta from the Sony website here. ®